


I'm hanging by a moment here with you

by justlarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Deaf!Louis, Famous Harry, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:39:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justlarry/pseuds/justlarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is deaf, Harry's a worldwide famous singer, their paths cross.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm hanging by a moment here with you

**Author's Note:**

> The dialogue between Louis and other characters is sign language unless specified.

Louis didn't even need to open his eyes to know Liam was in his room. Something in the air changed as he stepped in, gently shaking Louis' shoulder. Louis groaned in response. He didn't want to wake up. Liam shook him a bit more roughly until Louis finally turned over and faced him.  
"I'm not going." He didn't need to hear the sigh coming from Liam, or even see it. He knew that he was rough on him sometimes, but it always ended up the same.  
"Come on Louis, may as well try."  
"It'll always end the same and I want a lie-in."  
"I'm taking you if I have to drag you there."  
"Fine. Let me shower first." Liam nodded and gave Louis some privacy. Louis stood under the silent streams of the shower, staring blankly at the wall. He always wondered the same things in the shower: What did water sound like? He stepped out of the shower, throwing on a t-shirt which, ironically, had a band's name scrawled across the chest. Liam was downstairs at the kitchen table, Niall opposite him.  
"You're coming too?" Niall nodded in response and Louis grunted as he sat down to a plate of toast. "Thanks." Louis ate his breakfast slowly, trying to buy time, before Liam caught on and dragged him out to the car.  
"I know you don't want to, but come on."  
"Even if they say I can, I don't have the money."  
"Me and-"  
"No, I'm not owing you two that much."  
"Even if you qualify?"  
"Even if I qualify." Louis didn't 'speak' to the other two any more during the journey. He stepped out of the car in front of the other two and made his way to the reception.  
"Name?" the nurse said. Louis stood still, waiting for Liam. "Name?" she repeated. She was about to get extremely angry at Louis when Liam came between them.  
"Sorry, he's deaf. His name's Louis Tomlinson."  
"And you are?"  
"Liam Payne, carer." Liam hated that word. It made Louis sound like an invalid. He preferred to call Louis his friend, because that's what they were.  
"Blondie, who are you?"  
"Oh I'm Niall, just a friend."  
"You'll have to wait outside for the duration of the exam."  
"Oh alright." Louis had been standing completely still for the entire conversation and Liam smiled as they walked down the perfectly white corridors. "Niall has to wait outside." Louis nodded and stepped into the examination room. A doctor was sitting on one side of an oak desk, and the walls were just as pristine in the room as they had been in the halls.  
"Ah, Louis, I thought maybe you weren't coming."  
"I wasn't going to, but he dragged me here." The doctor looked at Louis disapprovingly before standing up.  
"Let's start this then?" Louis went through the all too familiar procedure of being poked and prodded by a doctor he had never even spoken to. The doctor spoke to Liam sometimes, about things they didn't want Louis to know about. That was one of the things Louis hated about it: people could be talking about him two metres away and he'd have no idea. For all he knew Liam and Niall were always talking about him, maybe they even hated him. He wouldn't blame them; he was a burden, especially on Liam. He'd like to consider himself and Liam as friends, but he didn't really know. Niall got the short straw as he was close with Liam before Louis, and he had to hang around with them still.  
"Alright Louis, how are things at home?"  
"Same as always." Louis stared at the doctor, trying to read his lips as he talked to Liam.  
"How has he been?"  
"Perfectly fine. Not a lot of pain from what I know."  
"I guess you know where this is headed huh Liam?"  
"Yeah, I know."  
"I'm sorry, but call me if anything goes wrong." Liam nodded slightly before meeting Louis' dead eyes.  
"Let's go." Liam could tell Louis was in a bad mood; he usually was after these meetings, and when they got home he went straight up to his room.

~~~

When Louis was born, his hearing was perfectly fine. But he got into an accident when he was 6 months old, which left him unable to hear. He doesn't know what people speaking sounds like. He learnt how to say simple things, but his speech has the maturity of a ten year old, while his body is a man of twenty-one. His mum didn't really know how to handle him after he lost his hearing, and he got put into care. At age eighteen, he was given his first carer, Kevin. Louis hated Kevin, Kevin wasn't too fond of Louis either. Eventually Louis found Liam, and well, from there they lived together and did everything together. 

~~~

Louis never expected to find anyone ever apart from Liam and Niall. They were the only people who could put up with him and his moods. It was days like this that Louis hated. Days when he was rejected a thing everybody takes for granted. It had happened every month for three years, and Louis got fed up with it. He knew he wouldn't qualify for them, and even if he did, wouldn't have the money to pay for them. Louis did okay without them, he can't really miss something he never had. But it would be nice to be able to hear. For him it would be a luxury after twenty one years of silence, while others never even thought how lucky they were to have the ability to hear. Louis got scared sometimes. Scared something bad would happen, but he wouldn't know, because he couldn't hear. Sometimes when people first met Louis and started talking to him as if he could hear, Louis started to cry. He wanted to be normal. He wanted to be like everyone else. He wanted to be able to hear. He didn't want to be subject to the look of sympathy on stranger's faces when Liam told them that he was deaf any longer. He wanted to be part of conversations, he wanted to meet people, to love them. Most of all Louis wanted to be loved.  
But in his mind this was all an impossibility. No-one would ever love him. Who could love someone who couldn't even hear?  
Liam knew that these thoughts ran through Louis' mind. He tried to reassure him, but with all the silence Louis had, it was hard to take his mind off it. 

~~~

It was two weeks until Christmas. Louis had been dragged out from the warmth of his bed once again, to go Christmas shopping.  
"It'll be fun." Liam was wrong. Walking around shops was not fun. Liam had gone off on his own to get Louis' presents so Louis was walking aimlessly around a shop he didn't even know the name of. He was looking around the clothes section when he was pushed to the floor. He looked up at his attacker: a six foot guy with curly hair and green eyes. He held out his hand and Louis took it and pulled himself up. He watched as the boy's mouth moved, almost laughing. The boy stopped talking and turned his head like a confused dog. Louis pointed to his ears and shook his head and the boy understood. He started signing some basic things.  
"I'm Harry. Sorry for knocking you over."  
"It's okay. I'm Louis."  
"Hi."  
"Hi."  
"How old are you?"  
"Twenty-one."  
"I'm nineteen."  
"You're too tall to be a nineteen year old. You're taller than me." Harry smiled, looking at the size difference between the two. Louis felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Liam.  
"Who's this?"  
"Harry." Liam and Harry started to talk and Louis found himself lost, swimming in an emerald ocean. He came back to earth when Liam shook him again.  
"He wants your number."  
"What?"  
"Like, phone number."  
"Seriously?" He looked up to Harry's face, he wasn't joking.  
"Come on then." Louis recited his number and smiled for the rest of the day. "That Harry guy seemed nice."  
"Yeah. I like his eyes." Before Liam could make a comment Louis phone buzzed.  
hi Louis, it's Harry from the store. how are you?  
Louis couldn't help but smile as he tapped in a reply.  
i'm good. how about you?  
They texted the entire night, before Liam threatened to take Louis' phone away if he went over his contract limit.  
sorry haz liams being annoying. i'll talk to you tomorrow.  
before you go, could i ask you out?  
like a date?  
yeah. if you want to.  
i'd love that.

~~~

"What's got you so smiley today?"  
"Nothing."  
"Come on, spill."  
"Harry asked me out."  
"You're going on a date? When?"  
"Tonight."  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"Because I knew you'd be like this."  
"Like what?"  
"Be all protective and father-like."  
"Come on Lou, I'm just excited. It's your first date."  
"Okay."  
"Where is it?"  
"I don't know, some restaurant. He's picking me up at seven."  
"Back before eleven."  
"I'm not a kid Liam, I'll be home when I want to."  
"Before eleven."  
"Shut up." Louis spent the rest of the day going through his entire wardrobe to find something suitable for a date. Finally he decided on a pair of smart jeans and a nice t-shirt. Liam opened the door when Harry arrived and gave him a smile. Harry took Louis' hand and led him out to the car.  
"I've been practising my sign language."  
"You didn't have to."  
"How else would we talk?" Louis smiled.  
"Where are we going?"  
"There's an Italian down on the high street."  
"Sounds great." They were in comfortable silence for the way there, Louis couldn't help smiling. Harry helped him out of the car and into the restaurant, which was surprisingly empty, apart from a couple at the front. For Louis at least, the night was perfect, and after the meal Harry drove him home again and walked up his path.  
"I had a really good night."  
"Me too."  
"Can I kiss you?" Louis nodded and Harry's lips met his.  
"I'll see you again soon."  
"Yeah. Goodnight." Louis opened the door, smiling at Harry again before shutting it. Liam was sitting on the steps, having heard them coming up the path.  
"How was it?"  
"It was perfect. He's perfect. Oh god, I sound like a teenage girl."  
"No, it's cute. Did you kiss?"  
"Now you're the teenage girl. But yeah, we did."  
"Are you going out again?"  
"Yeah, but he has to go away for quite a long time."  
"That sucks."  
"I know."

~~~

Louis was in a shit mood again. He had, once again, not qualified for cochlear implants. What made it even worse was that tonight was the last night he had with Harry before he left for three months. He didn't want to be in a bad mood for him, but he couldn't be happy when he had been refused it again. He didn't cancel the date, but Harry knew something was wrong when they got in the car.  
"What's up?"  
"Nothing. I'm fine."  
"Are you sure?" Louis just sighed a little. "Tell me what's up."  
"I can get implants so I'll be able to hear, and I go to the doctor's every month to see whether I qualify for them, and for the thirty ninth time in a row, I didn't. And it sucks."  
"Thirty ninth?"  
"Ever since I was eighteen."  
"That really does suck."  
"I wouldn't even be able to get them if I did qualify though; they cost a hell of a lot."  
"So if you were rich, could you just get them done without having to qualify?"  
"Yeah, but that's really expensive."  
"Maybe one day."  
"Maybe."

~~~

Their last night was spent out at a restaurant and a lot of hugs and goodbye kisses. Harry's flight was early the next morning, and he wouldn't be able to contact Louis until almost a week later. Louis woke up after having a lie-in and went downstairs. Liam was sitting on the sofa, a phone pressed to his ear, and an excited look on his face. Louis had no idea what he was saying, or what the phone call was about. He waited until Liam hung up and before he could ask Liam pulled him in for a hug.  
"What's going on?"  
"You're going to hear."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"You're getting implants."  
"And how the hell am I paying for them?"  
"Someone anonymously donated a ton of money, just so long as you get implants."  
"It was you and Niall right?"  
"Even we don't have that kind of money."  
"When?"  
"Tomorrow."  
"Oh my god. I'm going to hear."  
"You're going to hear."

~~~

Louis spent his last day of silence the happiest he had been since his first date with Harry. He went to the hospital for the surgery early.  
"I'm going to miss talking to you behind your back." Louis smiled.  
"Thank you so much Liam. For everything. For putting up with me for three years."  
"Hey, I haven't been putting up with you. If you were really that bad I would have left a long time ago. You're great Louis. We are still going to be friends after this."  
"I guess we have to seeing as we share an apartment."  
"Mr Tomlinson?" Louis saw the presence in the room and nodded. He stood up and walked to the surgery room.

~~~

"Louis. Louis. Can you hear me?" Louis looked up to Liam.  
"I can hear you."  
"Oh my god. This is amazing."  
"This is so weird."  
"It's strange hearing you replying."  
"It's strange hearing you talk. Your voice is so low."  
"Ahaha. Have you told Harry?"  
"I haven't been able to. He's out of contact until Thursday."  
"He's gonna be so excited."  
"I know."  
"Let's get home."

~~~

"Harry?"  
"Louis?"  
"Hi."  
"Louis?"  
"Yeah?"  
"You can hear me?"  
"I can hear you."  
"Oh my god. You got implants."  
"Yeah."  
"How?"  
"Someone donated a ton of money so that I could."  
"This is amazing."  
"I know. I just wish I knew who did it."  
"Hmm."  
"Something wrong?"  
"No. It's just, ah, it was me."  
"What?"  
"I donated the money."  
"You did it? Oh my god Harry, how did you pay for it?"  
"I probably should have told you before, but I'm kinda famous."  
"How famous?"  
"I'm on my third sold-out worldwide tour."  
"You've got to be kidding me."  
"Feel free to Google me." Louis did and, sure enough, Harry was a music sensation.  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
"I liked it being normal."  
"Normal? I couldn't hear you!"  
"I liked it."  
"I can't believe you did this Harry. I owe you everything."  
"You owe me nothing Louis. I love you."  
"I love you too."  
"I'm home on a break soon."  
"How soon?" The door bell rang. "One sec." Louis held the phone in his hand as he walked to the door. He expected to see Niall on the other side, but he opened it to see the curly haired boy. "Harry," he breathed.  
"I love you so much Lou."  
"I love you more."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :) Kudos and comments are appreciated.


End file.
